The Curse That Never Happened
by Seraphina Elias
Summary: What do you think would have happened if the curse had never been active and The Enchanted Forest actually was Storybrooke? What if some of the most important events that happened in the show, never actually happened? Well, this story is one of many possibilities. Rated M for possible future smut scenes.
1. Chapter 1

Emma Swan entered the diner, toddler on her hip. She quickly took her usual seat, the booth across the room. As she set Henry on the seat next to her, she unzipped her hoodie and fanned herself. It was cold and raining outside, but she'd been carrying her son around all morning and that alone was enough of a workout. Being almost full term in her second pregnancy wasn't really helping things either.

"It's Emma, right?" Granny asked as she approached the table.

She gave an uninterested smile, "Yeah, sorry, do I know you?"

Granny gave her a friendly smile, "No, but I know your parents."

Emma replied, unimpressed, "Of course. Let me guess, they are just absolutely amazing."

The old woman's smile faded as she tried to sympathize, "I know it must have been hard on you growing up. They only wanted what was best for you and having a child that young just didn't seem to be the right thing."

"They were 20 and 21. I had my son at 16 and I've managed so far."

In reply, Granny gave her a nod, to avoid any further arguing, "What can I get for you and the little guy?"

"I'll have some hot chocolate and I think he'd like some juice."

"Okay," she wrote down the order and asked, "What kind of juice would he like?"

"Do you have apple juice?"

"Yes we do."

"Okay, can he have some of that?"

"Coming right up," Granny smiled as she turned to fulfill the blonde woman's order.

Emma quickly stopped her, "Oh! Could you bring me some water too?"

"Of course, Emma."

Little Henry shifted in his seat and sat up on his legs as he reached for the salt shaker at the end of the table, near the window. Rather than stopping him, Emma waited to see if he'd actually figure out that he could scoot down the seat to bring himself closer to the glass container. Without hesitation, Henry climbed up onto the table and took a firm hold of his prize, almost flipping it upside down and spilling the white granulated substance all over the table, bench, and floor.

"No, Henry!" Emma scolded as her mommy reflexes kicked into high gear, grabbing the shaker before he could do anything of the sort.

Henry quickly pulled his hand back as he saw his mom take the mystery object and yelled, "No, no, no!"

"That's right, that was a no-no."

During this instance, Emma had heard a bell ring and turned to away for a split second to find a brunette woman, maybe a few years older than her own mother, walking in. That's how Henry had managed to climb onto the table, without being corrected. The lady didn't seem to pay her any attention as she watched her walk from the entrance and take a seat at the bar stool directly across from her and Henry. She was definitely one of the most attractive women she'd seen since arriving into Storybrooke, but she felt weird thinking someone her mom's age was so hot.

The woman turned, upon hearing the commotion and asked, "You must be the Charming's daughter."

Emma switched her attention to the woman, "Well, that's a yes and a no." She waited for a response, but when none came, she replied, "I'm Emma Swan."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I assumed David was your father."

"He is."

"Then-"

"They put me up for adoption when I was born. I never got adopted and Swan was the last name I was given."

"Oh," the stranger replied, "well, that's unfortunate." Without giving it a second thought she asked, "So then who is this little guy?"

Emma smiled as she put her son in her lap and answered, "This is Henry… My son."

The woman got up and walked over to the table, bending down, and saying, "Well hello there Henry, I'm Regina."


	2. Chapter 2

Neal sat down next to Emma at the table, putting an arm around her as he placed a kiss on her cheek. Henry, who was snuggles against his mom, turned his head at the sound of the metal chair raking against the concrete as he slide closer. Emma gave him a weak smile as she took a sip of her hot chocolate and held Henry closer to her.

"Hey buddy," Neal said to him as he held out his hands, welcoming Henry.

"No!" Henry shouted as he turned his head away.

Emma smiled at her husband, "He's grumpy, because he didn't have a nap today."

Neal was leaning in to kiss Emma when they heard a woman's voice, "Emma?"

The couple turned their heads to find a woman, maybe late 30's, standing in front of them, arm in arm with a man who looked to be about the same age. It was her parents, Mary Margaret and David Nolan. Mary Margaret had dark hair with green-brown Hazel eyes and fair skin. David was tall with brown hair and blue eyes. They looked absolutely perfect together, the way she wished she looked with Neal.

"You must be Mary and David?" Neal said as he stood up and shook their hands.

"Mary Margaret," The woman corrected as she shook his hand.

David pulled out his wife's chair as she sat down. They both looked at Emma, then at the little boy she was speaking softly to. Henry turned around and told them hello, before hiding his face in his mother's neck. She smiled at the people across from her as she tried encouraging her son to stop being so shy.

"How old is he?" Mary Margaret asked, misty eyed.

"He's about to turn 3."

Neal added, "He acts shy when he's tired."

They sat and talked with these two strangers for almost an hour about Henry, before the toddler moved his father's lap, revealing Emma's baby bump. The Nolan's both wanted to ask, but were afraid she would answer no. Instead, they asked questions about their life before Henry, which neither Emma or Neal wanted to talk about.

Emma said, "Well, there's not that much to tell. We met when I was younger and we've been together ever since."

Her mother took no time at all in asking, "So you had Henry when you were-"

"I was 16, yes. I'm 19 now and on baby number 2, in case you were wondering."

David gave her a smile, trying to avoid the awkward turn the conversation took, "So how far along are you?"

"I just started my third trimester today, so 28 weeks."

"Do you know the gender of the baby?"

Neal proudly interjected, "It's another boy."

"Don't worry," Mary Margaret told her daughter, "eventually you'll have a girl."

Emma put her hands up in surrender and replied, "Oh no, this is the last one."

They sat in silence for a couple minutes before both sides agreed they'd spoken long enough. It was their first time meeting and Emma hadn't been looking forward to it. The only reason she'd agreed to meet with them was because she wanted her son's to have the life she never got the chance to, which included knowing both sets of grandparents. Getting their lives together and cleaning up their past was in the best interest of both Henry and his unborn brother, regardless of how awkward or uncomfortable they felt about it.


	3. Chapter 3

Entering into the apartment all she could see on the counter tops were dirty dishes and beer bottles. As she let out a sigh and called for Neal, Emma set the bag of groceries on the counter and followed the sounds of the TV all the way into the living room. She was about to yell at Neal for not cleaning up while she was gone, which he'd actually caused more of a mess, but the sight of him and Henry napping on the couch stopped her. Smiling, the young mother walked back and began putting away the groceries. Almost as if someone had been watching her, a knock on the door echoed through the apartment just as she'd looked into the paper bag. Irritating that when all she wanted was to finish cleaning, someone decided to stop by. She quickly walked to the door and threw it open far enough for her to stick her head out and nothing more. The apartment was a disaster and there was no way she was going to accept any visit-

"Hello Miss Cassidy." Regina said.

Emma's mouth fell open for a brief moment before she decided to reply, "How do you know my last name?" Before an answer could come she threw out another question, "How did you know I even lived here?"

Regina let out a chuckle, "Oh please, I'm the mayor, nothing happens in this town without me knowing," She told her as she pushed her way in.

The blonde was in such a state of shock at seeing the other woman, that the mess behind the door had completely left her mind... Until she turned back into her apartment and saw Regina standing among the trash, dirty dishes, and beer bottles in their kitchen. emNot sure how to get out of this one, /emshe thought as her eyes slowly fell to the ground, to avoid seeing an expressions that may or may not embarrass her. Should she explain? Maybe she should just stay quiet and continue talking as she puts away the groceries? iYeah, that should work/i, she thought to herself as she stepped to the bag one more time, emI can just begin to clean up if she isn't gone by the time I'm done with this. Maybe it'll look like I've been working on it for a while and just hadn't finished./em

"You know, if you ever need help, I know your mother would love to pitch in. She's been dying for some quality time with her daughter."

Emma quickly withdrew her hand from the brown paper bag, "What?"

"Well, you just seem to have your hands full. Being a mom is a full time job and having to take care of a son, as well as a man who'd unemployed-"

The young woman was quick to cut her off, "I appreciate you trying to help me out, but I've got this. I just haven't had much time to clean with everything that's been going on... And Neal's not unemployed, he's a fisherman. It's his off season."

The mayor ignored the line that she'd overstepped and continued, "Well, fisherman or not, you two have your hands full. You're two teenagers raising a child and getting ready for your second to come."

"Thanks for the concern, but I think we've got it," The young mother answered, continuing to put the groceries in the fridge and appropriate cupboards.

Without waiting for an invitation, Regina reached into the bag as Emma turned away and pulled out an item, handing it to the girl as she turned around, "Let me at least help you with this."

Emma nodded, "Sure. Thanks."


End file.
